Vatican City: After decades of negotiations, the Vatican on September 22 signed a provisional agreement with China under which Pope Francis will recognize seven bishops appointed by Beijing who were previously not accepted by church authorities.
The seven, from the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association, had been excommunicated by previous popes because they were not selected by the Vatican.
The controversial agreement, announced by the Vatican, also allows for the establishment of a diocese north of Beijing for the first time in more than 70 years.
China has some 12 million Catholics divided between an underground Church loyal to the Vatican and the Catholic Patriotic Association.
Beijing and the Holy See severed relations in 1951, two years after Communist party won China’s civil war, in large part over Beijing’s insistence that it must approve bishop appointments in China.
The signing of a “provisional agreement” has made a breakthrough on an issue that stymied diplomatic relations for decades and aggravated a split among Chinese Catholics.
Beijing’s long-held insistence that it must approve bishop appointments in China had clashed with absolute papal authority to pick bishops.
With the status of the seven bishops now reconciled, the Vatican said all bishops in China are now in communion with Rome — even though the Catholic community in China is still split between Catholics who belong to the official Chinese church and those in the underground church who remained loyal to the pope.
“Pope Francis hopes that, with these decisions, a new process may begin that will allow the wounds of the past to be overcome, leading to the full communion of all Chinese Catholics,” a Vatican statement said.
Some Chinese Catholics have opposed such a deal, notably Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who before the deal was announced called it a sell-out of Chinese Catholics who refused to join the state Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and who paid the price of remaining faithful to Rome during years of persecution.
There was also no immediate mention in the deal of the status of several underground bishops named by the pope.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke, speaking in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Pope Francis was visiting, indicated the accord would serve as a blueprint for future appointments of bishops, who lead the faithful in their dioceses. Burke told reporters the aim of the accord “is not political but pastoral, allowing the faithful to have bishops who are in communion with Rome but at the same time recognized by Chinese authorities.”
The Vatican’s No. 2 official indicated that the pope and the Chinese authorities would jointly approve new bishop appointments.
“What is required now is unity, is trust, and a new impetus: to have good pastors, recognized by the Successor of Peter (Pope Francis) and by the legitimate civil authorities,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin.